This invention relates to the packaging of articles, for example, bottled products such as bottled beverages, or the like, and is more particularly concerned with improvements in machinery for encasing an assembly of bottles arranged in row forming relation in a wrap-around type carton blank of paperboard or similar foldable carton or package forming material.
In the packaging industry, several different types of packages have been employed in the marketing of bottled products, and widely accepted by users, particularly, for such products as bottled beverages, which are conveniently arranged in double row relation and enclosed in a carton or wrapper. One such package which is in the form of an open top cellular basket lends itself most readily to multiple trip use and has been used extensively for marketing beverages in returnable bottles. However, this type package has certain disadvantages. It requires the use of stock material of substantial weight or thickness and initial gluing and folding both of which increase the cost. In addition, it is generally loaded by dropping the bottles in the cells from the top which presents an undesirable bottle breaking hazard. There are also certain disadvantages in its production and subsequent handling.
Upon the introduction of the non-returnable, disposable beverage bottles, the use of the more economical single trip wrap-around type blank which had been developed primarily for packaging canned products became popular and has had extensive use for packaging the bottled products. However, the package formed with the wrap-around type blank commonly provided has not been found satisfactory for marketing the returnable bottle products because opening the package for removal of the bottles destroys its carrying capability. Responding to pressure from ecological minded groups and others, the use of non-returnable bottles has decreased and, in some cases, they have been banned by government regulation. This has led to renewed efforts to develop wrap-around type packages having multiple trip capabilities so as to be more acceptable for packaging an array of bottled products in returnable bottles. One such package, employing a newly developed single paperboard blank, which is designed to be wrapped about an assembly of bottles in row arrangement and to be adapted for use in returning empty bottles to the source of purchase, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,518, granted to Edwin L. Arneson on Aug. 31, 1976.
The development of new packages or packaging improvements in the bottle and can packaging industry most often has required the modification of the machinery heretofore developed for forming the earlier developed packages or the development of new machinery for assembling the bottles into the desired arrangement and encasing them in the carton or carrier. Machines which have been developed heretofore for use in applying the wrap-around type carton blank to groups of cans or bottles have included features described in a number of patents granted to me including: U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,510, dated Apr. 2, 1963, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,590, dated Oct. 28, 1969. These machines have been designed to apply a wrap-around blank which does not require any appreciable pre-folding before assembly with the bottles. They have included provisions for drawing panels carrying interengaging locking and latching elements into proper relation for engaging the locking and latching elements and compressing the assembly so as to obtain a package in which the blank is tightly wrapped about the can or bottle assembly and securely held without the use of adhesives. These machines and others of similar type have not been considered readily adaptable to the packaging of bottle assemblies with the new type wrap-around blank referred to, which requires substantial pre-folding before assembly with a group of bottles, since the machines heretofore available have not been designed to take care of the pre-folding requirements of the new blank.
A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine for packaging groups of bottles in a wrap-around type blank of paperboard or similar foldable material which enables folding of certain panel elements of the blank prior to assembly of the blank with the bottles and adequate control of the partially folded blank while it is assembled with a group of bottles and secured in tight carton forming arrangement about the bottles.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide a machine for automatically applying, in carton forming relation about an assembly of bottles which are arranged in row relation, a wrap-around type packaging blank of foldable sheet material which is cut and scored so that it may be, in part, pre-folded and thereafter telescoped over a group of bottles, with a top wall and adjoining side walls from which a pair of handle panels are taken, the handle panels being of a size to be folded on transverse hinge lines so as to be disposed between the top portions of the center bottles in depending handle forming and bottle separating position and to leave top openings which are of adequate size for removal of the bottles immediately adjacent the handle without damaging the carton.
Another object of the invention is to provide a machine for applying to a bottle assembly a wrap-around type carton forming blank of paperboard or similar material which has provision for initially pre-forming wall panels in the blank which constitute the top and side wall members of the carton so as to bring a pair of associated handle forming panels into position for insertion between the tops of adjacent pairs of bottles after which the partially folded carton is deposited in telescoping relation onto the bottle assembly.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a bottle wrapping machine which is adapted to partially pre-form a wrap-around type blank and advance the same for deposit in downwardly telescoping relation onto a group of bottles which are arranged in double row and transversely paired relation so as to position certain pre-folded panels on the blank between adjacent pairs of bottles.
To this end the invention as claimed is embodied in a machine for packaging groups of bottles in a cut and scored blank of foldable paperboard or similar packaging material which machine includes means for continuously feeding the package forming blanks in a path along which there are mechanisms which effect the pre-forming of certain of the panels into which the blank is divided and which deliver the partially pre-formed blanks for advance to an assembly area for application to a group of bottles on a bottle carrying conveyor.
The invention will be best understood when reference is made to the accompanying detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof which is set forth therein, by way of example, and shown in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout.